Sheet handling system



Aug. 9, 1966 CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 mun mwxoanrmINVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO a PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEY g- 1966 F.CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING S YS TEM Filed Feb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet Z (D InINVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8| PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed Feb. 11, 1964 INVENTORSFRANK L. CALIFANO 8| TAK BY PAUL N SHU ATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966 F. L.CALIFANO ET AL 3,264,917

SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS mFRANK L. CALIFANO 8k BY PAUL N. SHUTAK FIG. 5.

Aug. 9, 1966 Filed Feb. 11 1964 F. L. CALIFANO ET AL SHEET HANDLINGSYSTEM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8\ PAUL N. SHUTAK BYATTORNEY Aug. 9, 1966 F. L. CALIFANO ET AL SHEET HANDLING SYSTEM FiledFeb. 11, 1964 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 CUTTER OPERATOR'S STATION |74- f LAmIEgi. It

i in i 59 Woe no INVENTORS FRANK L. CALIFANO 8\ PAUL N. SHUTAK ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,264,917 SHEET HANDLTNG SYdTEM Frank L. Califano,Hackensack, and Paul N. Slrutak, Kearny, NJL, assignors to ThelFlintlrote (Zompany, New York, N.Y., a corporation of MassachusettsFiled Feb. llll, T964, Ser. No. 344,013 3 Claims. (Cl. EBB-94) Thisinvention relates generally to improvements in the efficiency of heavyindustrial production lines wherein asphalt shingles or the like are cutfrom a web of material, and resides more particularly in a conveying andhandling system which permits more effective rejection of defectiveshingles and affords other desirable controls without any attendantinterference with continuity of operation.

Although this invention will be described in its application to thesolution of certain problems involved in asphalt shingle manufacturingplants, it will be recognized that this invention is applicable to othermanufacturing situations wherein the same basic problems are involved.

A very common type of shingle comprises asphaltimpregnated heavy paperstock having mineral granules embedded in one face thereof and cut to arectangular shape including slits which define separate tabs. Modernindustrial technology requires that shingles shall be completely formed,cut, bundled and packaged in a single continuously operating productionline. Typically, on such a production line a wide web of paper stockprogresses continuously at a very high rate of speed through thesuccessive stages of impregnating with liquid asphalt, coating withmineral granules, and cutting to size. This cutting operation, whichlikewise is performed at high speeds, includes the slitting of the webinto strips, cutting these strips into individual shingle lengths, andcutting the slits which define tabs. Immediately thereafter the shinglesdesirably are delivered directly to a plurality of stacking machineswhich form individual bundles and to machines for wrapping thesebundles.

Due either to defects which occur in production of theasphalt-impregnated and granule-coated web from which shingles are cut,or to other causes, a certain minor percentage of defective shingles isproduced and desirably there is a system whereby these shingles areprevented from being included in the final packaged bundles. Defects inthe web can occur either across the entire width thereof, such as when asplice has taken place, or across a smaller portion of its widthaffecting only some of the lanes leading to the stackers. Thus, a majoraim is to be able to extract the defective shingles as effectively aspossible, with a minimum of waste of good shingles, and without anyinterruption of the continuously operating process equipment which formsthe web of shingle material. A major factor concerning the operation ofa shingle production line is that any conditions that require a stoppingor slowing down of this Web processing equipment must be eliminated ifpossible, for obviously they lead to production of further defectiveshingles, with consequent increase in waste, and a slowing down of therate of production. This can be particularly significant whenconsidering that any of a variety of possible occurrences at one of thestackers, such as a jam, may require an interruption in the making andsupply of shingles.

Certain specific problems which existed prior to invention of theherein-described system will be highlighted only briefly as examples.When shingles enter the stackers they travel at speeds of severalhundred feet per minute, and a stacking machine operator cannot easilysee an average defect in a fast-moving shingle. When a splice had takenplace, for example, this operator could be forewarned of the fact (as bya yell from an operator Elm-El? Patented August h, 1966 up the line),but he could only guess when defective shingles cut from the splicedsection would arrive so that he could then discard whole bundlessupposedly containing them. There was no way that an operator viewingthe splice before-hand, from up the line, could definitely assure theremoval of the defective shingles from the production line prior totheir going to the stackers. It should be realized that it is quiteimpractical to inspect and remake bundles manually once they have beenpulled [from the line leading to packing machinery. A similar andclosely related problem was that there was no way to handle defectsappearing at only one location across the web width while permittingother unaffected lanes leading to the stackers to continue to operatenormally. A still further problem was that at times it was necessary tohalt an entire six-lane production line because of a jam-up or otheroccurrence actually requiring interruption of shingle delivery in onelane only. These were the major problems, and others that were overcomewill become evident hereafter. Their principal consequences were a largepercentage of defective and wasted shingles, and a comparatively lowoverall efiiciency.

Accordingly, the main object of this invention is to overcome all of theabove-mentioned problems inherent in shingle manufacture according tothe prior art. More specifically, it is an object to provide a systemfor dependa'bly and effectively removing defective shingles or the likefrom a production line in which a single large Web of material travelingat high speed is slit and cross-cut into pieces which immediately areautomatically stacked in bundles.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means whereby saiddefective shingles are removed prior to their passage to the stackingmachinery.

It is a still further object to provide, in a production line havingseveral lanes defined by slitting of a web, a system of this type thatcan be controlled by different operators in response either toconditions limited to only some of the lanes or to all of the lanes.

A further major object of this invention is to provide a production linewherein operations involving rejection of defective shingles and thehandling of other conditions in the line can be effected withoutdisrupting the normal continuous operation of the web processingequipment.

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a bypass system inwhich a major distinguishing feature is the ability to divert shinglesin all or only some of the lanes away from the stackers, and to performthis under the joint control of several machine operators at both thestacking and cutting sections of the line. In the specific systemdisclosed herein, in conjunction with the cutting and slitting stationthere is provided a set of controls whereby shingles in all six lanescan be diverted from the stackers to a side destination where defectiveshingles are collected; also, there is a set of controls whereby theoperator at each of the stackers can initiate this same diverting actionin any of these lanes individually as necessary due to specialconditions therein. For example, when a splice has occurred, theoperator up the line, at the cutting station, can momentarily divertshingles in all lanes away from the stackers. On the other hand, whendefective shingles are detected or are believed to be delivered at oneof the stackers, or for other reasons it is necessary to interrupt thedelivery of shingles thereto, the operators can effect the diverting ofshingles from only that one lane while the other lanes and the main webprocessing equipment continue to operate as normal.

Further objects, advantage and details of this invention will becomeapparent from the following description when read with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a schematic illustration representing the side view of acomplete system including shingle cutting and stacking equipment incombination with means effecting the rejection of defective shinglesprior to their arrival at the stackers;

FIGURE 2 represents schematically a plan view of the apparatus shown inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view showing in greater detail the main portion ofthe system which includes the shingle rejecting means in accordance withthis invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view from the right end of the structure shown in FIGURE3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in FIGURE 3, as indicatedby lines 5-5 therein;

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5, but taken at a lower level asindicated by lines 66 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 7 is a schematic diagram of the electrical control circuit forthe apparatus shown in the preceding figures.

The basic arrangement of the shingle cutting devices and the stackersdoes not form a part of this invention and will be described onlygenerally with reference to FIGURES 1 and 2, while the section of thisapparatus which mainly involves the present invention will be describedmore specifically with reference to FIGURES 3 to 7.

In the manufacture of shingles, a web W is produced by continuouslyrunning process equipment (not shown), which are previously mentionedinvolves the impregnation of a special paper stock with liquid asphaltand embedidng in the surface thereof a layer of mineral granules. Bymeans generally indicated at 2 in FIGURES 1 and 2, the web W is slitlongitudinally into strips and these strips are then cut transversely toa rectangular size typically measuring one by three feet. Also, in thelatter operation there is involved the formation of tabs by cutting outnarrow slits extending inwardly from one side edge. In the illustratedcase the Web W is slit into six strips, although it should be recognizedthat wider or narrower webs can be used and that practically any desiredsize of sheets in the form of shingles or the like can be cut. In anyevent, the web W i cut into sheets S, which for present purposes ofillustration may be considered as asphalt shingles. In the organizationof the presently illustrated machine the six strips into which the web Wis slit continue through the machine in what will be referred to aslanes, and it is desired to divide the line into conveying meanrepresenting three lanes at an upper level and three lanes at a lowerlevel. To this end, the sheets or shingles S emitting from the cuttingmeans 2 enter either a pair of conveyor belts 4 or a pair of conveyorbelts 6. It will be noted particularly from FIGURE 2 that adjacent pairsof belt conveyors 4 and 6 diverge in an alternate fashion, the beltconveyors 4 in the first, third and fifth lanes being inclined upwardlyand the belt conevyors 6 in the second, fourth and sixth lanes beinginclined downwardly. These six lanes will be designated and referred toherein, respectively, as lanes #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6. Thus, in additionto delivering the shingles S to the upper and lower levels of themachine, the belt conveyors 4 and 6 serve also to insure a tearing apartof the adjacent shingles along their longitudinally severed lines.

At 8 there is generally indicated a group of gates or deflectorsoperable to direct shingles onto either an upper conveyor 12 or a lowerconveyor 14. When desired, deflectors 8 can be operated to directshingles onto belt conveyor -12 and then through turnover or twisterbelts 16, because in the handling of certain types of shingles havingadhesive thereon every other shingle must be turned over. Normally,however, the shingles proceed from belt conveyors 4 to belt conveyors 14and then onto belt conveyors 18. Similarly, deflectors 10 can beoperated to direct shingles onto either belt conveyors 32 or 34. Thebelt conveyors 32 deliver shingles through turnover or twister belts 36(similar to belts 16) although normally the shingles are delivered tobelt conveyors 34 and then to belt conveyors 38. It will be understoodthat the belt conveyors 18 are in lanes #1, #3 and #5, and the belt conveyors 38 are in lanes #2, #4 and #6.

The central aspect of this invention begins with an assembly of gates orflipper-like deflectors generally indicated at 20 in FIGURE 1. Assembly20 comprises three deflectors numbered 21, 2-3 and 25 in lanes #1, #3and #5, respectively. Each of the deflectors 21, 23 and 25 isindividually and independently operable to effect the delivery of ashingle S traveling on its associated belt 18 to either a conveyor belt22 for acceptable shingles or to a conveyor belt 24 for defectiveshingles. (Rejected shingles will be referred to herein as thoseshingles which, for one reason or another, are diverted by one of thedeflectors onto the conveyor belts 24 and 48 and then to the conveyorbelts 30 and 54, respectively.) Also, as described more fully hereafter,all of the deflectors 21, 23 and 25 can be operated simultaneously andin unison to effect the delivery from all three lanes #1, #3 and #5 toeither the conveyor belts 22 or 24. Shingles conveyed on belts 22 aredelivered to conveyor belts 26, which in turn, deliver the shingles tothe stackers as illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. Shingles delivered toconveyor belts 24 are discharged beneath guide plates 28 and fall onto atransversely traveling conveyor belt 30.

Also involved in the central aspect of this invention is an assembly ofgates or flipper-like deflectors generally indicated at 40 in FIGURE 1.This assembly comprises three deflectors numbered 42, 44 and 46 in lanes#2, #4 and #6, respectively. As in the case of the deflector assembly20, the deflectors 42, 44 and 46 are independently operable or operablesimultaneously to direct shingles in one or more of the lanes #2, #4 and#6 to either the conveyor belts 48 for defective shingles or theconveyor belts 50 for acceptable shingles. Shingles conveyed on belts 50are delivered directly to the stackers as illustrated, while shinglesdeflected to belts 48 are discharged beneath guide plates 52 and onto atransversely traveling conveyor belt 54.

The stackers #1 through #6 comprise the subject matter of Patent No.3,205,794, which issued from a copending application of the presentapplicant. Therefore, these stackers will not be described in detailherein. Briefly, however, their function is to receive shingles at veryhigh rates of delivery and to stack them in individual bundles whichtypically may number 21, 26, or 28 shingles per bundle. These bundlesare then delivered by a conveyor to standard equipment for wrapping themwith heavy paper or cardboard. Various types of stacking machinery otherthan the type presently mentioned and identified also can be used inconjunction with apparatus forming the subject matter of this invention.For present purposes it may be noted that one or more machine operatorsare stationed at the stackers, and that in accordance with thisinvention there are control means whereby these operators can controlindividually the operation of the deflectors 21, 23 and 25 at the upperlevel and the deflectors 42, 44 and 46 at the lower level.

The overall system of belt conveyors and deflector assemblies issupported and housed in a structural frame- Work basically comprisinguprights 56 and stringers 60. The upper reaches of conveyor belts 18 aresupported by fixed belt trays 62. Belts 18 are trained about pulleyswhich are keyed to a shaft 64, which through a chain drive 66, drivesthe shaft 70 on which the pulleys of belt conveyors 22 are keyed. Theconveyor belts 22 similarly are supported by trays or pans indicated at72.

As shingles S proceed along the belt 18 in lane #1, they pass a pair ofspaced, upstanding brackets 74 which mount a pair of photorel-ays PRaand PRb. The function of these photorelays will be described hereafter,but for the present it may be noted that through an opening 77 cut inthe pan 72 the light beams from a pair of lamps 76 and 78 can activatethese photorelays. When a shingle S passes above the opening 77, ofcourse, the light beams from the lamps 76 and 78 to the photorelays areinterrupted momentarily and the photorelays respond accordingly. Itshould be noted that due to the spacing of brackets 74- the response ofthe photorelays PRa to passage of the leading and trailing edges of ashingle will precede slightly the activation of the relay PRb.

Immediately in front of each of the deflectors 21, 23 and 25 there is anoverlying guide 86 which insures proper approach of shingles to thedeflectors. Each of these deflectors 21, 23 and 25, has a pair ofbearings whereby it is freely journalled for angular motion on astationary shaft 82 extending the width of the machine. As evidentparticularly from FIGURES 3 and 4, each deflector consists of a pair ofupstanding side plates in which are spanned by a member having a V-shapepointing against the direction of travel of shingles. By means offluidoperated piston and cylinder units 81, 83 and 85, respectively, thedeflectors 21, 23 and 25 are movable from their position as shown inFIGURE 3 to the same position 'as occupied by deflector 42 in FIGURE 3.As shown in FIGURE 4, these fluid-operated units are connected to theirrespective deflectors by means of connecting rods 81, 83 and 85'. Whenany of the deflectors of assemblies 2t} and 40 is in the position whichdeflector 21 is seen to occupy in FIGURE 3 it will be referred to asbeing in the through position, whereas if it is in the position in whichdeflector 42 is shown in FIGURE 3 it will be referred to as being in thereject position. As will be described hereafter, the fluidoperated units81, 83 and 85 can be operated either independently or in unison. Thus,when any one of the deflectors 21, 23 and 25 is operated by itsassociated fluid-operated unit to move it to a reject position, it willdeflect one or more shingles downwardly onto its associated conveyorbelt 24, the number of shingles which are so rejected being dependentupon the length of time during which the deflector remains in the rejectposition.

Each of the conveyor belts 42 has a supporting tray 86. The drivingpulleys for belts 24 are keyed to a common cross shaft 88 journalled inthe framework and driven through chain drive 90 by a motor 92. Shinglescarried by conveyor belts 24 drop onto the wide conveyor belt 30, whichis trained over rollers 94 that are driven from a motor 96 through chaindrive 98. From FIG- URE 4 it will be seen that a curved plate or chute100 serves to direct rejected shingles smoothly downwardly onto theconveyor belt 54. The position of chute 101) can be varied through meansof an adjustable line 102.

At the lower level, the belts 38 are supported by trays 104. Brackets1G6 extending above lane #6 immediately ahead of the deflector 46 mounta pair of relays PRc and PRd. An opening 108 in the tray 105 of lane #6permits light beams from a pair of lamps 108 and 110 to activate,respectively, the photorelays PRc and PRd as the leading and trailingedges of shingles pass this point. After shingles pass beneath thephotorelays PRc and PRd, they proceed beneath guides 112 associated withthe three deflectors 42, 44 and 46. Each of these deflectors is freelyjournalled for rotation about a shaft 114, and as evident from FIGURE 3they have the same substantially V-shaped configuration as thepreviously described deflectors in assembly 20.

Referring to FIGURE 4, rotational movements of deflectors 42, 44 and 4-6between the through and reject position are effected, respectively, byfluid-operated piston and cylinder units 116, 118 and 120, these unitsbeing connected to the deflectors by connecting rods 116, 118' and 120.The means whereby operation of the units 116, 118 and 120 is controlledis described more fully hereafter.

The lower belts 48 for handling rejected shingles are trained overpulleys 122 and are driven from a common shaft 124 under powertransmitted from a motor 126 through chain drive 128. Each of the belts48 has a supporting tray 1311 including side walls.

At opposite sides of the machine there are walkways 132 and 134 for useby personnel in servicing the machine. The wide conveyor belt 54 whichreceives rejected shingles from upper belt conveyor 24 and lower beltconveyors 48 is trained around pulleys 136 and is driven from a motor138 through chain drive 140. Shingles carried on belt 54 can bedischarged into a suitable receptacle such as a wagon, or can be droppedonto a table for further handling as desired.

Reference next will be made to FIGURE 7, which is a simplified diagramof the machine control circuit. Power is supplied through main terminalsor lines L and the control circuit is placed in on or off condition byoperation of a main switch 142. The operation of the fluid-operated unit81 in lane #1 is controlled by a conventional solenoid-operated valve146. Similarly, solenoid-operated valves 148, 156, 152, 154 and 156control the fluid-operated units for operating the deflectors in lanes#3, #5, #2, #4 and #6, respectively. The individual circuits foroperating these solenoid-operated valves in lanes #2 to #6 are arepetition of the circuit provided for control of the valve 146 and,therefore, in the interest of brevity of description only that circuitassociated with valve 146 will be described in detail. Energization of asolenoid 158 incorporated within the valve unit causes it to move pistonand cylinder unit 81 in a direction to rotate deflector 21 to thepreviously mentioned reject position. Energization of an opposedsolenoid 160 in the valve unit will, in the absence of concurrentenergization of solenoid 158, cause piston and cylinder unit 81 tomaintain deflector 21 in the normal or through position. A double manualreset type switch has a first pushbutton switch 162 connected in serieswith solenoid 158 through line 166 and a second pushbutton switch 164connected in series with solenoid 161} through line 168. The closure ofswitch 162 will cause opening of switch 164, and will effectenergization of solenoid 158 to move deflector 21 to the rejectposition. The pushbutton switches 162 and 164 are located on a panelassociated with the stackers, and when a stacking machine operatordepresses pushbutton switch 162 the deflector 21 will continue to causerejection of shingles until the operator depresses pushbutton switch 164to restore the deflector 21 to its normal or through position. The sameoperation can also be effected from a remote location, the cutteroperators station, through closure of a set of relay contacts designatedURa. Contacts URa are normally open, but when closed they bypass thepushbutton switch 162, thereby effecting positioning of the deflector 21in lane #1 to the reject position as long as these contacts are heldclosed. An indicator lamp connected in series with line 166 is locatedat the stackers and a similarly connected lamp 172 is located at theCutter Operators Station which is generally indicated at 174. Thus, theflashing of lamps 171i and 172 will indicate to both the stackingmachine operator and the cutter station operator that shingles in lane#1 are being rejected. At station 174 there is a pushbutton switch 176which is connected in series with a pair of relays having operatingcoils UR and LR, and an indicator lamp 180 on a control panel will flashat any time that pushbutton switch 176 is depressed. Relay coil URoperates the relay contacts URa and hence it will be observed thatclosure of pushbutton switch 176 by the cutting station operator, aswell as closure of switch 162 by the stacker operator, can effect therejection of shingles traveling in lane #1.

The previously mentioned photorelays PRa and "PRb have relay contactsPRCa and PRCb connected in series in a line 182. The function of thesephotorelays will be described more fully hereafter, except to note forthe present that the photorelay contacts in line 182 are closed exceptwhen the beams of light from their respective lamps 76 and 78 areinterrupted momentarily by a passing shingle S.

The valve units 148, 150, 152, 154 and 156 have solenoids 184, 186, 188,190 and 192, respectively, which are energized to effect movement oftheir associated deflectors to the reject position. These valve unitssimilarly have solenoids 194, 196, 198, 200 and 202 which are energizedto cause the fluid-operated piston and cylinder units to hold theirassociated deflectors in the normal or through position. In circuitswhich are identical to that previously described in connection with lane#1, the controls include pushbutton switches 204, 206, 208, 210 and 212corresponding, .respectively, to lanes #3, #5, #2, #4 and #6. Thedepression of any one of the last-mentioned pushbutton switches willeffect the rejection of shingles in its designated lane, and restorationto the normal through position is effected by pushbutton switches 214,216, 218, 220 and 222. It should be noted that when relay coil UR isenergized through closure of pushbutton switch 176, all three of thepushbutton switches 162, 204 and 206 are bypassed by closure of relaycontacts URa, URb and URc; also, simultaneously the energization ofrelay coil LR effects the bypassing of all three pushbutton switches208, 210 and 212 through closure of relay contacts LRa, LRb and LRc.When shingles are being rejected in any of the lanes #3, #5, #2, #4 and#6, a corresponding indicator lamp 224, 226, 228, 230 or 234,respectively, at the cutter operators station 174 will flash. Also, atthe stackers there are indicator lamps 234, 236, 240 and 242 which willflash during rejection of shingles in their particular lanes.

The function of the photorelays PRa, PRb, PRc and PRd and their effecton operation of these controls will now be described. Referringparticularly back to FIG- URES 5 and 6, it will be evident that it isdesirable to prevent the motion of any of the deflectors 21, 23, 25, 42,44 and 46 to a rejection position when a shingle is approaching adeflector or is passing over it. As a shingle S advances to a positionclose to the deflector 21, for example (FIGURE 5), its forward portionwill pass beneath the photorelays PRa and PR!) and, due to its length,will remain beneath these photorelays until it has almost completelycrossed the deflector 21. Throughout this time, the beams from one orboth of the lamps 76 and 78 will be interrupted and the photorelaycontacts PRCa and PRCb consequently will be opened. When either of thesets of photorelay contacts PRCa. and PRCb is opened, none of the valveunit solenoids 158, 184 and 186 can be energized to initiate suchmovement of a deflector to a reject position. Hence, movement of adeflector to a reject position in any lane, #1 for example, cannot occuruntil a shingle S has passed almost completely over it or unless theshingle has not yet reached a position in proximity to the firstphotorelay PRa. Because the shingles in lanes #1, #3 and #5 travelsideby-side, the photorelays PRa and PRb in lane #1 are adequate tocontrol the operation of all three deflectors 21, 23 and 25. Similarly,the solenoids 188, 190 and 192 cannot be energized to effect rejectingmovement of deflectors in lanes #2, #4 and #6 when either of the sets ofrelay contacts PRCc and PRCa is opened by a shingle S interrupting thebeams from lamps 108 and 110 in lane #6.

In summary of the operation of this machine, there is first to beconsidered the operator at the cutter station. When this operatordetects a uniform defect across the web W, or a splice, he can depressthe pushbutton 176 to effect the closing simultaneously of all six setsof contacts URa, URb, URc, LRa, LRb and LRc, which in turn will causesimultaneously the movement of the deflector assemblies 20 and 40 in allthe lanes to a reject position. At the stackers, by use of thepushbuttons 162, 204 and 206 provided for stackers #1, #3 and #5 and thepushbuttons 208, 210 and 212 provided for stackers #2, #4 and #6,shingles can be rejected selectively in any of these lanes. For example,the operator may find that only the shingles in one of the lanes arecoming defective and therefore only the shingles in this particular laneshould be rejected. As a further example, suppose that one of thestackers becomes jammed in which case it is desired to interrupt onlythe feed of shingles to this particular stacker. When a stacker operatoris rejecting shingles in any one of the lanes, the operator at thecutter station is alerted to the fact by the flashing of one of theindicator lamps 172, 224, 226, 228, 230 or 232 as previously described.Also, the lamps 170, 234, 236, 238, 240 and 242 will flash at thelocation of the stackers when shingles in their corresponding lanes arebeing rejected.

One modification that can be provided in the control circuit diagrammedin FIGURE 7 is that the full set of individual pushbutton controlsoperable from the location of the stackers (e.-g., pushbutton switch162) can simply be duplicated for operation by the cutter stationoperator. Thus, if desired the cutter operator can be provided withcontrols whereby we can selectively reject shingles in any one of thelanes.

From the above it will be evident that all of the objects and advantagesdiscused in the introduction hereto are attained in accordance with thisinvention. An existing shingle production line which was modified toincorporate the bypass system according to this invention has shown asubstantial increase in overall operating efficiency. Fewer defectiveshigles are now included in the stacking operation and fewer goodshingles are wasted. In the operation summarized above, it should benoted that because of the ability to divert shingles from all lanes orselectively from only some of them, the continuity of operation of theline need not be interrupted.

Again it is noted that although this invention has been described in theenvironment of asphalt shingle manufacturing, it is applicable to thehandling of sheets in general in situations where the same basicproblems prevail.

It will be understood further that various departures from thespecifically disclosed embodiments of this invention can be effectedwithout departing from the scope thereof as defined by the followingclaims:

What is claimed is:

1. A sheet handling and conveying line comprising means for feeding awide web of material; means for cutting the web longitudinally andtransversely to form sheets; conveyor means for receiving series ofsheets cut from different locations across the width of the web andconveying them in separate lanes; a plurality of deflector elements atthe delivery end of said conveyor means; each of said deflector elementsbeing aligned with one of said lanes and being movable between a normalthrough position and a reject position wherein sheets are directed fromits one associated lane; second conveyor means receiving sheetstravelling across said deflector elements when the same are in saidthrough position; a driving means individually connected to each of saiddeflector elements for moving it between said positions; high speedautomatic stacking apparatus at stations located to receive sheets fromlanes of said second conveying means; and a control system for all ofsaid driving means comprising: two sets of visual indicators locatedrespectively at said stacking apparatus and at a station adjacent saidcutting means, both of said sets each having a plurality of visualindicators, each said indicator being responsively coupled to one ofsaid deflectors and operative to emit a signal indicating if thedeflector is in said through position or reject position, a singlemanually operable control element at said cutting means station, meansconnecting the last-mentioned control element to all of said drivingmeans to elfect movement of said deflectors in all lanes simultaneouslybetween said through and reject positions,

a plurality of manually operable control elements closely combined withand corresponding to said set of indicators at said stacking apparatus,and plural means individually connecting each of the last-mentionedcontrol elements to one of said driving means similarly to eflectmovement of its associated deflector element between said through andreject positions.

2. The invention according to claim 1, including a visual indicator atsaid cutting station responsive only to operation of said singlemanually operable element to eflect movement of all of said deflectorelements simultaneously.

3. The invention according to claim 1, including means to preventoperation of any one of said deflectors when sheets are approaching ortravelling over it, and comprising a pair of photorelays spaced alongthe length of said conveyor means in advance of the deflector element,said spaced photorelay being identically operable to produce 10 a signalindicating the presence of a sheet passing thereby, and means responsiveto said signal from either of said photorelays and connected to saidcontrol system to prevent movement of a deflector element, wherebydeflector elements will not operate until sheets have passed bothphotorelays.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,258,428 10/1941Stadler 83-107 X 2,427,223 7/ 1947 Moore 83l06 X 2,540,972 2/1951 Wagneret al. 271-64 X 3,097,807 7/1963 Erskine 83-106 X WILLIAM W. DYER, JR.,Primary Examiner.

I. M. MEISTER, Assistant Examiner.

1. A SHEET HANDLING AND CONVEYING LINE COMPRISING MEANS FOR FEEDING AWIDE WEB OF MATERIAL; MEANS FOR CUTTING THE WEB LONGITUDINALLY ANDTRANSVERSELY TO FORM SHEETS; CONVEYOR MEANS FOR RECEIVING SERIES OFSHEETS CUT FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE WEB ANDCONVEYING THEM IN SEPARATE LANES; A PLURALITY OF DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS ATTHE DELIVERY END OF SAID CONVEYOR MEANS; EACH OF SAID DEFLECTOR ELEMENTSBEING ALIGNED WITH ONE OF SAID LANES AND BEING MOVABLE BETWEEN A NORMALTHROUGH POSITION AND A REJECT POSITION WHEREIN SHEETS ARE DIRECTED FROMITS ONE ASSOCIATED LANE; SECOND CONVEYOR MEANS RECEIVING SHEETSTRAVELLING ACROSS SAID DEFLECTOR ELEMENTS WHEN THE SAME ARE IN SAIDTHROUGH POSITION; A DRIVING MEANS INDIVIDUALLY CONNECTED TO EACH OF SAIDDEFLECTOR ELEMENTS FOR MOVING IT BETWEEN SAID POSITIONS; HIGH SPEEDAUTOMATIC STACKING APPARATUS AT STATIONS LOCATED TO RECEIVE SHEETS FROMLANES OF SAID SECOND CONVEYING MEANS; AND A CONTROL SYSTEM FOR ALL OFSAID DRIVING MEANS COMPRISING: TWO SETS OF VISUAL INDICATORS LOCATEDRESPECTIVELY AT SAID STACKING APPARATUS AND AT A STATION ADJACENT SAIDCUTTING MEANS, BOTH OF SAID SETS EACH HAVING A PLURALITY OF VISUALINDICATORS, EACH SAID INDICATOR BEING RESPONSIVELY COUPLED TO ONE OFSAID DEFLECTORS AND OPERATIVE TO EMIT A SIGNAL INDICATING IF THEDEFLECTOR IS IN SAID THROUGH POSITION OF REJECT POSITION, A SINGLEMANUALLY OPERABLE CONTROL ELEMENT AT SAID CUTTING MEANS STATION, MEANSCONNECTING THE LAST-MENTIONED CONTROL ELEMENT TO ALL OF SAID DRIVINGMEANS TO EFFECT MOVEMENT OF SAID DEFLECTORS IN ALL LANES SIMULRANEOUSLYBETWEEN SAID THROUGH SAID REJECT POSITIONS A PLURALITY OF MANUALLYOPERABLE CONTROL ELEMENTS CLOSELY COMBINED WITH AND CORRESPONDING TOSAID SET OF INDICATORS AT SAID STACKING APPARATUS, AND PLURAL MEANSINDIVIDUALLY CONNECTING EACH OF THE LAST-MENTIONED CONTROL ELEMENTS TOONE OF SAID DRIVING MEANS SIMILARLY TO EFFECT MOVEMENT OF ITS ASSOCIATEDDEFLECTOR ELEMENT BETWEEN SAID THROUGH AND REJECT POSITIONS.